Genius
by TheHappyKitty
Summary: Even for geniuses, some answers are not always clear. Certain things might even take years to figure out, especially when they're right under your nose.


Shikamaru didn't like a lot of things.

He didn't like rain. He didn't like droughts. He didn't like boiled eggs. He didn't like people that told him what to do. He didn't like doing more than what was neccessary.

That was why he didn't like girls.

A lot of people criticized him for it. They told him he was sexist and God knows what else. But he just didn't like them.

They were loud, they were bossy, they expected people to pay attention to them, and they usually disrupted Shikamaru's carefully calculated routine, which was done in such a way that every day he used the least amount of energy neccessary.

A prime example of this was Ino. The girl was all of the things above and she seemed to think that pushing Shikamaru around was _neccessary_ and it was her _job._ Why couldn't she just mind her own business? To make it worse, their dads were friends and they were put on the same team together.

All in all, exceptions came few and far between. So far, the only girl who didn't match those stereotypes was Hinata, and she turned into a stuttering and blushing mess whenever Naruto so much as looked at her. That was still annoying.

So yes. Shikamaru didn't like girls. He was very careful not to voice that opinion in the presence of his mother though, since he'd seen what happened when his father did so once. What followed only proved to strengthen his belief.

Then the Chuunin Exams came. Honestly, he didn't want to participate. It just seemed so _troublesome._ But once Ino started nagging he began to analyze the pros and cons, wondering if getting her to shut up would be worth the trouble. He didn't have to decide when his mother started nagging too - she was a _very_ terrifying woman.

And so, Team Ten filled out their papers and turned them in.

The first test was easy. Shikamaru just looked at the test full of challenging problems in front of him that no Genin should have been able to solve, picked out the easiest one, solved it in two minutes, then promptly went to sleep.

The second test was harder. Really, traipsing around a forest for days because of a survival test was troublesome. But they still managed it, even if they were worse for wear afterwards.

Then the preliminaries came, as well as the first problem. Because Shikamaru had to fight a _girl._ In case he wasn't clear enough before, he really didn't like girls.

And this one used genjutsu. Troublesome. But he managed to get her with his shadow and knock her out easily enough after that.

When the preliminaries ended, they were all required to draw a number that decided who they fought.

With Shikamaru's luck, he had to fight a girl. Again.

A Suna kunoichi, Subaku Temari, the only daughter and eldest child of the Kazekage, who utilized long-range wind jutsu.

The day of the tournament came. Naruto finished his match by defeating Neji, and Shikamaru's name was called. He sighed. Did he have to go? Maybe if he just stayed up here, they could skip him? He was considering the option when someone pushed him down into the arena.

As Shikamaru lay there on his back, he scowled. Naruto, of course. Troublesome.

The girl was saying something. The crowd appeared displeased - it seemed his reluctance to move was causing them to throw things.

That still didn't prompt him to move. He was actually planning on just staying there and watching clouds. They looked particularly nice today. What _did_ cause him to move was the girl moving and slamming her closed fan into the ground where he'd been laying a few seconds ago.

The battle was... interesting. It was refreshing to battle someone who could fight using strategy. The girl was actually surprisingly smart, despite her temper. Nowhere near his level, of course, but she still forced him to stop and think. That only ever happened with challenging opponents.

Still, Shikamaru caught her in his shadow. She seemed surprised. Did she not get the memo that he was a child genius? Troublesome. Although he had to forfeit afterwards because of his low chakra reserves.

And as if the Exams themselves weren't troublesome enough, Suna decided to invade. When the genjutsu was cast, he pretended to be asleep, hoping for a nap. Unfortunately, the others (Read: Stupid, ugly mutt) woke him up and forced him to come with them to chase after Sasuke, who in turn was chasing after Gaara.

Shikamaru knew everyone around him was rather dumb in comparison, but was the Uchiha "prodigy" really so stupid as to think that chasing after a half-transformed, blood-thirsty jinchuriki who wanted to sacrifice them all to a demon he called 'mother' a _good_ idea? Apparently, yes.

But as he was running with Sakura and Naruto, the mutt gave them news that made his blood run cold. The second he said they were being pursued, his brain kicked in, calculating speeds, distances, and tactics. It took him approximately 7.8 seconds to come to the conclusion that he would need to stay behind as a distraction.

It was... strange. Yes, he was lazy. Yes, all he wanted was an average life. But on the other hand, he had been raised to put the village before himself. It was an iron-clad commitment. He could not think past it.

And so, he faked the footprints. He chose a perfect spot and trapped the Sound ninja in his Shadow Possession. Kept them like that for a decent while too. But his chakra was still low from the fight with that girl - _Temari,_ his mind supplied - so it was only a matter of time before his shadows started to weaken and him get light-headed.

In that time, he'd been so sure he would die. So sure that he would just lay down and never get up. For someone who wanted to nap all the time, it _should_ have been an enticing prospect. The fact that it wasn't bothered him.

It bothered him for a long time afterwards, even after Asuma-sensei came to his rescue and eliminated the enemy.

Why? Why did he not want eternal peace? To just not have everyone bother him forever, to watch clouds from Heaven? (Or Hell. Could he do that?)

The answer came to him when he was presented with his Chūnin vest and felt an all-too familiar warmth surge through him.

He suddenly realized: He liked life.

No, he didn't like life. He _loved_ it.

He loved his village.

He loved his family.

He loved his sensei and his team.

Even Ino, as her bossy and loud self, had managed to worm her way into his heart. He loved her.

He loved Chōji, his best friend whom he'd known ever since they were little brats.

He loved the Rookie Nine, as well as the Konoha Eleven. (Yeah, he didn't love Sasuke. Can you blame him?)

He loved the Will of Fire and what it stood for.

And eventually, he loved Temari too, drat that troublesome woman.

And maybe he realized girls weren't all that bad.

(Still troublesome though.)


End file.
